Wednesday, April 28, 2010

In the Day of a Novel-In-Progress

So, today I'm going to share a little of the journey to complete a novel. I've planned for this book...have lived with the characters in my head for months while I was completing In The Shadow of Evil...know the basic outline. I begin by writing the prologue. Let me go on record as telling everyone I love prologues. Absolutely love them. I write the prologue and lo and behold, I love it. Now I begin on the first 3 chapters. And this is when I realize I must change the manner in which I'm telling the story for at least the first act of the book. I must write in a way I've never written before. Will it work? I haven't a clue, but that's what the story demands. And herein is my point (yeah, I know, took me long enough to get to it, right?)...sometimes, writers must step out of our comfort zone in our writing ability to work the story the best way, FOR the story. We must set aside our tried and trues, our security nets, and stretch. Reaching for the holy grail of the story. That's what I'm trying to do. Is it working? Hmm...not sure yet, but if not and I have to come up with a different way to tell this story, I'll still have grown from the exercise.

How about you other writers? Stretching and growing for the betterment of your story? Would love to hear ways you've struggle to do what's best for the story, and how you managed!

1 comment:

Dineen A. Miller said...

Hey girl, for me it's the emotional stuff. Getting it on the page is always a challenge because it makes me open and share a deep part of myself that I like keeping locked away. That REALLY pushes me out of my comfort zone. LOL!